Care home ‘requires improvement’, report says

A care home in Crawley needs to improve, according to a report from the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

A team of CQC inspectors who visited Deerswood Lodge, in Ifield Green, for an unannounced inspection reported that the care home needs to improve at providing safe and effective care.

The facility is set up to provide care for up to 90 older people - there were 82 residents at the time of the inspection - including people who have physical disabilities or are living with dementia.

“Individual risks were not always identified and plans in place did not contain sufficient guidance for staff to reduce known risks,” said the report.

“For example, one person was a smoker but there was no risk assessment or plan in place to manage the risk to themselves or the environment.

“Another person had a catheter in place but there was no clear guidance for staff on how to recognise if the catheter was blocked and what to do in the event of a blockage. This is a breach of Regulation 12 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

“The service was meeting the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2008 and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). Conditions attached to standard DoLs applications were met however they were not detailed in people’s individual care plans to ensure that staff consistently upheld people’s rights and this is an area that needs improvement.”

The report said residents had enough to eat and drink. “However, risks and nutritional preferences were not always clearly identified and guidance for staff lacked detail,” it added. “For example, one person’s care plan stated they should have a modified diet.

“However the reason for the modified diet was not given and not all of the recommendations made by the Speech and Language Therapist had been incorporated into the care plan. This meant that there was insufficient guidance for staff on how to support the person to minimise the risk of choking.”

The report recognised that staff were properly trained in safeguarding vulnerable adults, and that equipment checks and health and safety measures were properly in place.

“Staff supported people with kindness and consideration,” it said. “People told us they got on well with staff and that staff listened to them.”

A spokesperson for Shaw Healthcare, which runs Deerswood Lodge, commented: “We accept that there is always room for improvement and have an action plan in place that we have shared with the CQC.

“We were pleased to see that the majority of our scores were deemed as ‘Good’ and the report acknowledged the good care delivered by the employees and that the residents felt safe.”